A fun salsa is one of my favorite ways to dress up a protein. Last summer I shared my recipe for Stone Fruit Salsa that is perfect with grilled fish, chicken or steak. The smokiness from the grill is a great foil for the sweet fruit and tangy onion. And last spring I posted my Avocado Salsa that I serve with grilled or seared Ahi tuna. I love the creaminess of the avocado and the creaminess of the fish with briney capers and garlic.

This Meyer Lemon Salsa is fresh and bright, with sweet Meyer lemons and shallots, and a lot of fresh parsley. This is a case where Meyer lemons are a must. Meyers are a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin, and are much sweeter and more tender than your typical lemon—you would likely find this salsa to be quite tart and overly chewy with either Lisbon or Eureka lemons.

I intended to make this to serve with trout (I'm in Idaho after all), but there wasn’t any at the fish counter, so fresh, wild, red snapper was a great stand in. The salsa is really quite versatile, and would be perfect with halibut or salmon as well. Quinoa cooked in broth was a nice rich pairing for the bright salsa, and a green salad completed the meal.

Note: I used red wine vinegar because that's what I had on hand in my tiny Ketchum kitchen, but feel free to use white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar instead.

MEYER LEMON SALSA

3 meyer lemons

2 shallots, minced

a handful of Italian parsley, chopped

2 splashes red wine vinegar

extra virgin olive oil

2 large pinches of sea salt, crushed

a few large grinds of black pepper

Cut the lemons in half, remove the seeds, and chop the lemons (skin and all) into 1/4 - 1/2 inch pieces. Combine them, as well as any juice from your cutting board, with the shallots and parsley in a bowl. Add a couple of splashes of red wine vinegar, and follow with enough olive oil such that when you stir it all together it’s quite moist, and the oil drips off of the lemons a bit. Season with a couple of pinches of sea salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir to combine, and adjust seasonings to taste.